GENERAL COMMENTS:
Livestock futures are mixed as we head toward midday as traders note mixed signals from the fundamentals. No new cash cattle trade has developed Thursday and it looks like the bulk of this week's trade is finished. July corn is down 3 3/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is down $4.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 718.65 points and NASDAQ is up 54.76 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Steady and consistent -- thus far that's what Thursday has been in the live cattle complex as the market is simply trading sideways, holding the strong position the contracts ran to earlier this week upon seeing the powerful rally in the fed cash cattle complex and continued beef demand. But without anything "new" hitting the market from a positive, fundamental front, the market is trading mostly sideways. June live cattle are down $0.70 at $254.55, August live cattle are down $0.17 at $249.55 and October live cattle are up $0.15 at $244.07. There's been no new developments Thursday in the fed cash cattle market and there's a chance -- outside of some light clean up trade -- this week's trade could be essentially done. So far this week Northern dressed cattle have traded at mostly $400, which is $14.00 higher than last week's weighted average. Southern live cattle have traded at mostly $255 to $256, which is $9.00 to $10.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.69 ($389.74) and select up $3.61 ($389.86) with a movement of 44 loads (25.61 loads of choice, 1.80 loads of select, 7.83 loads of trim and 8.33 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
Oddly enough, although the live cattle contracts aren't blazing trails higher Thursday, the feeder cattle complex is confidently pushing a $1.00 to $2.00 rally into Thursday's noon hour. May feeders are up $1.65 at $373.15, August feeders are up $1.20 at $373.67 and September feeders are up $1.32 at $372.25. Buyers have been mixed this week in the countryside for feeder cattle as they have been selective on the type and kind of cattle they're wanting given that prices are so high.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is trailing mostly lower into Thursday's noon hour as the market is disgruntled to see midday pork cutout values lower again as traders desperately yearn for greater fundamental support. June lean hogs are down $1.07 at $102.67, July lean hogs are down $0.57 at $105.70 and August lean hogs are down $0.27 at $106.15. Thursday the main reason the carcass price is lower on the noon report is the $3.77 decline on the butt.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 4/29/2026 is up $0.10 at $91.41, and the actual index for 4/28/2026 is up $0.12 at $91.31. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog report, up $0.56 with a weighted average price of $93.43, ranging from $93.00 to $94.00 on 396 head and a five-day rolling average of $91.99. Pork cutouts total 182.08 loads with 163.29 loads of pork cuts and 18.79 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.38, $96.81.
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